When it comes to the biggest Batman comic book storylines of all time, Batman: Hush is always in the conversation. Stories such as The Dark Knight Returns, The Long Halloween, Death In The Family, The Killing Joke, and Batman: Year One stand at the top of the food chain for the Dark Knight, with the introduction of the villainous Hush standing side-by-side with many of them. Thanks to DC announcing that the original creative team of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee returning for a sequel storyline, many were expecting a new golden era of the Bat but unfortunately, they might get anything but with the latest issue, Batman #160.
Much like the title of this review suggests, Batman #160 throws an incalculable amount of characters, storylines, and action-packed scenes readers' way. To start, Bruce is having some difficulty in wrapping his head around the Red Hood's current alliance as Jason Todd and Hush seem to be working in tandem. On top of this, Tommy Elliott's big comeback has spawned new villains for the Dark Knight to fight as Hush has been putting his surgical skill to good use. The issue also injects subplots involving Commissioner Gordon, Nightwing and Batgirl teaming up with the Riddler, Damien Wayne hitting the scene with Bane, Tommy creating new villains for Bruce to fight, and all these elements stirred into a chaotic pot. Unfortunately, all of these plotlines find themselves almost doing battle with one another by the issue's end.
The original Hush storyline, much like The Long Halloween and its sequel Dark Victory, did an adept job of juggling an avalanche of Batman's villains into one storyline. Specifically, it did this by typically spending an issue seeing the Dark Knight take on one of his rogues gallery within the backdrop of an overarching mystery that is unfurling. Here, Loeb takes a far more chaotic approach in that countless villains are smacking against one another for panel time in a way that might have seemed more in line with the grand finales of these respective stories. This methodology worked as something of a pay-off to what had transpired before in the original Long Halloween but unfortunately, it almost appears as though Hush 2 is throwing everything at the wall relatively early.
The Hush sequel has an issue in giving you time to breathe and percolate on the many plots that are interweaving with one another. It's all too fast and far too furious in comparison to Loeb's past mysteries that worked so well, such as The Long Halloween with the methodology for introducing the nefarious Holiday. To say nothing of the fact that we are once again retreading the idea of whether or not the Joker should still be alive and how far Bruce Wayne should go in saving the villain's life. This of course leads me to my next big issue with the issue.
We really need to have a discussion about Jason Todd in the DC Universe. For me personally, I think that there has never been a good enough storyline, aside from Batman: Under The Red Hood, that felt like Jason's resurrection was justified in the face of his initial death's impact on the DC universe. That's a personal preference for yours truly but it's one that feels exacerbated here in Hush 2 because readers are once again dragged into a villainous take on the Red Hood, which is territory that has been explored time and time again. Yes, Jason wants the Joker dead but that fact has been mined to death, and seeing him once again coming to blows with Bruce over this fact doesn't feel fresh anymore. It's a hard sell that Jason, who is a murderer, is allowed to walk free and fight for Gotham but him switching sides again pushes the believability of the universe to its breaking point.
On a positive note, Jim Lee once again proves himself to have not missed a beat since he was drawing far more often for both DC and Marvel Comics. Lee's work makes each of these characters truly feel as though they are gods walking the Earth, which is fantastic for the DC universe as a whole. There's a reason why in plenty of marketing and promotional material, Jim Lee's artwork feels like the "go-to" for Batman and his villains and the artist proves that here. Scott Williams' inks and Alex Sinclair's colors on the issue greatly accentuate Lee's linework here, and if nothing else, I really am looking forward to seeing more of what Hush 2 has to offer in the art department.
Hush 2 is a storyline that I believe will need to be judged when all is said and done, ie once the arc is finished and readers can read it in a single afternoon. Reviewing the arc piecemeal feels like a tough scenario though it's one that still needs to be done. As it stands, I wouldn't recommend this sequel for readers looking for the next big Batman book and while it is flawed, there are good enough aspects to bring me back to see how it all wraps.